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That's a good interview. The filmmakers stuck to their guns and their vision and it sounds like it will pay off artistically for the miovie. He says that Maurice Sendak is pleased with it, that say's something about what to expect.

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At one point I think I had heard that Tom Hanks had some involvement with the property and I even I think heard that Eric Goldberg was slated to be a director on an animated version.

One of the major problems with turning a childrens book into a full length feature is trying to fill out the story without losing the spirit. I can see how most of these projects could easilly spin out of control. On one hand you have films like The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, and Polar Express that failed miserably. But on the other hand you have truly successful adaptations like Winnie The Pooh. I would even count Curious George as ultimately being a success though it was by all accounts a mess from the beginning.

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I continue to be amazed how simple childrenís stories manage to confound film makers. Maybe itís because the film maker fails to grasp the simplicity of a childrenís book. Perhaps they should write a childrenís book before attempting to tell a film story.

In any case, Iíve watched simple stories, easily adaptable, become twisted and turned into an unwatchable mess. The story was always there, but for some reason they couldnít seem to find it.

A master story teller like Bill Peet was able to adapt ď101 DalmatiansĒ in six months. Todayís film makers can spend years on a project and come up with nothing. Maybe we simply donít have storytellers like Bill Peet anymore.
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If youíve got a good storyteller, leave him or her alone to develop their film. I guarantee the ďcommitteeĒ will only screw it up. Walt Disney trusted Bill Peet to come up with something that worked. John Lasseter allowed Brad Bird to write and direct ďThe Incredibles.Ē

You either have a story or you donít. You either have a story teller -- or you donít. The leader -- whoever that leader is -- should know that. Thatís their job.
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